


sunny side up

by a_calipygian



Series: Safe and Sound [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas, Christmas Angst, Christmas Fluff, Gifts, Hurt, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Love, M/M, Prequel/Sequel, Repressed Memories, Sad with a Happy Ending, Short & Sweet, reconnecting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-28 00:59:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17172836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_calipygian/pseuds/a_calipygian
Summary: Christmas has always been the worst time of year for Gavin Reed, but this year he can make an exception.(Part of the ‘Safe & Sound’ series.)





	sunny side up

**Christmas 2038.**

 

The whole apartment smells of pot.

Well, not just pot. Weed, whiskey, vodka, and the faint smell of piss all linger around the entire apartment and make Gavin’s nose want to shrivel up and fall off. It sticks to his clothes and his hands and he really fucking needs a shower after he’s done cleaning all this shit up, but when exactly that will be is unclear to him just yet.

“ _It’ll only be a small party. You won’t even notice we’re here,”_ Ryan had said, “ _Come on, baby doll, consider it my early Christmas present_.”

And Gavin, like the idiotic moron he is, had crumpled like a paper cup in Ryan’s grasp. Even more so when his beloved boyfriend had raised a fist in warning.

For the most part, Gavin had just hidden away in the bedroom, Luci on his lap and his earphones plugged into his tablet, watching whatever crap he could find on Netflix — only emerging every hour or so for a leak or another whiskey. It hadn’t been too bad, especially considering that most of the people Ryan had invited round for his ‘Christmas party’ were too high in the clouds to make any fuss at all.

At one point Ryan had even come in to check on him, offering him a coffee with a kiss on the cheek and thanking him for being so patient — which had been endearing until Gavin had realised it was simply the alcohol talking and Ryan was probably too pissed to mean any of it. Fucking figures. Gavin shouldn’t even have been surprised when Ryan’s sweet words and loving kisses turned into furious fumbling’s for skin-on-skin contact; the man never offers out affection without expecting some kind of favour in return, and tonight he’d had his mind set on his dick slamming against the back of Gavin’s throat with no real care for the pain it may inflict.

He’d thrashed and said no far too many times to count, but Ryan had never given a shit about what Gavin wanted. He would have called for help if he wasn’t aware most of Ryan’s ‘friends’ would undoubtedly come in and join the fucking party, demanding their dicks be the next to introduce themselves to Gavin’s tonsils.

The bastard had passed out practically as soon as he was finished depositing into Gavin’s mouth, too, slumping back onto the bed and snoring within seconds – knocked out from the booze and drugs and whatever the fuck else he and his patrons had been up to, leaving Gavin to clear out the rest of the rabble and clean up all their fucking mess.

Thankfully, most of them had left without a fuss, but only because Gavin had kept his badge and gun within clear sight. A few had taken a little more persuasion to shift their asses, and one of them had been so black-out pissed that Gavin had just dumped him on the couch and left him to sleep it off, but after an hour or so Gavin was happy to find the apartment back to its usual state; finally devoid of loud music or crackheads, barring, of course, the one still passed out on the couch. The whole apartment is still a shit tip, though, despite the fact Gavin feels like he’s been cleaning the place for hours – there are bottles and pizza boxes everywhere, and he can’t even fucking name half the drugs they’ve been using that are still left out on every surface.

The time doesn’t even occur to him until he’s out on the balcony once the place is cleaned up, his throat sore and a cigarette between his teeth, and he’s pulling his phone out and squinting at the bright screen and numbers that shine back at him.

**[ 1:30 AM ]**

**[ SATURDAY 25 DECEMBER ]**

“Shit,” Gavin mumbles to thin air, exhaling smoke as he speaks. In all the fucking chaos he had more or less forgotten what the actual point of this party had been, and now it stares up at him and slaps him around the face.

Christmas. The shittiest time of the year.

Gavin could do without it, to tell the truth. Too much hassle for a holiday he barely has any patience for; for a holiday he sees no real fucking reason to celebrate other than the rest of the world’s confounded ideologies of joy and happiness and love and family. It’s nothing that Gavin has, so why the fuck should he celebrate it?

He can barely remember the last one he actually enjoyed, let alone celebrated, and it would seem this year is going to be no different than usual – judging from the state of the apartment that lies just behind the glass doors of the balcony. The left-over booze bottles and the drunken mess that Gavin has the joy of calling ‘boyfriend’ aren’t exactly going to provide the most traditional Christmas, and Gavin already knows the only thing he has to look forward to tomorrow is when he finally gets to go to bed. The only present he’ll receive will be in the form of Ryan’s bad hangover that should hopefully keep him sleeping till well past noon.

Whatever. He shouldn’t have expected anything different. It beats spending Christmas alone, he supposes, though right now he certainly wouldn’t complain about spending a whole day by himself on a couch with only Luci for company, engrossed in all the shitty festive films with the same shitty storylines that take up every single shitty channel and station you can find. Yeah, that really wouldn’t be too bad.

But, instead, of course, he’ll have to stay here – catering for all of Ryan’s needs and spending his Christmas passing him water and aspirin to help him ride out of his hangover. Which is… just as fun.

He doesn’t expect to hear much from his parents, except maybe a call from his mother just before she puts the dinner out back home, but that’s just how it goes these days. They don’t send cards anymore, and his dad certainly doesn’t give a shit about where he is or if he’s having a jolly Christmas. But as long as he gets that call, that’s all that really matters.

The annual text from Elijah has already popped up on Gavin’s phone, formal and straightforward and unobtrusive as always.

(00:02) _Season’s Greetings, brother._    

Gavin doesn’t know why the fucker can’t just say Merry Christmas like a normal person, why he insists on trying to be different than everyone else and being so fucking formal about it. It always used to be something Gavin admired about him when they were younger, but nowadays it just grates on his nerves.

As always, he leaves him on a read for a couple of minutes, and then replies with the usual thumbs’ up icon – cause he’s a shitty guy, he supposes, but it’s not like he has much to salvage. This text and the happy birthday text are the only two interactions he has with his brother all year, it doesn’t make sense to just start whipping up a conversation now, despite how much he wants to. Eli sees the response four minutes later and doesn’t message again, and that’s the last he’ll hear now until July 17th when Gavin will send his annual ‘happy birthday dickface’ as soon as the clock strikes midnight.

And that concludes Gavin’s familial interactions for the remainder of Christmas day, apart from Luci, who he’ll treat at some point with a bag of treats and a new toy he got from the store. There’s no one else he’s close enough to in his family that will find the effort or time to message, but at least he can look forward to some amusing texts from Chen and some other DPD officers at some point during the day.

Luci wanders out onto the balcony as if responding to Gavin’s thoughts, pressing her head into his shin to alert him of her presence. The familiar fuzz is enough to make him smile, and Gavin lowers himself down until he’s sat on the cold floor of the balcony and Luci is climbing into his lap and making herself comfortable there.

One hand runs through her soft brown fur and elicits happy purrs from the feline, who practically vibrates in Gavin’s lap like the spoilt bitch she is, whilst his other hand keeps his cigarette secure between two fingers as he takes a drag from it every so often.

And that’s how he stays for the next hour, spending the early morning of Christmas day curled up with his only real companion, content as he can be with the knowledge of the fresh hell waiting for him back inside the apartment. He sits, and he smokes, and he says three words that he won’t be caught dead saying to anyone else.

“Merry Christmas, Luci.”

“ _Mmrroww_.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**Christmas 2039.**

 

The whole house smells of toast.

Gavin wakes with a start wondering if he’s having a stroke, knowing he’s read about that somewhere – but then coffee filters through and overpowers the burning toast he can smell in the air and he wonders if it really is just his imagination.

A shiver runs up his spine as he notices how cold it is in the room, the usual heat he has in the morning strangely absent, and he finds himself clutching at the sheets around him to cover his bare body. The smell and the cold already make this morning miserable, and Gavin’s gritting his teeth before he’s even opened his eyes properly.

Something brushes against his leg as he pulls at the sheets and Gavin lifts his head to spot Luci curled up beside him in the bed he’s laid out across; sleeping and purring contently next to his foot, nuzzled into the black covers that tangle between Gavin’s legs. The fog of the early morning clears away within seconds as he discerns where he is, knowing only one person who fucking insists on having pure black bedding that feels and smells only too familiar at this point.

His eyes tear away from his sleeping cat to search the opposite end of the bed, looking for, what should be, it’s other occupant, but finds himself frowning at the empty space beside him. No wonder he was so fucking cold upon waking up; his main source of heat isn’t within arms reach and that is undoubtedly a problem, and it must be way too fucking early to be dealing with problems since the sky outside is still dark in the December morning and Gavin has not nearly had enough sleep.

He hears his bones shift and pop as he stretches out across the bed, careful not to move Luci, and digs chunks of sleep out of his eyes as he tries to wake himself up, wanting to get up and find his personal heater and drag him back into bed so Gavin can sleep again – but before he can even get that far, the android in question is sticking his head through the door and smiling down at Gavin with a charm that makes Gavin suddenly feel wide awake.

“Good morning, Gavin.” Nine says, blue eyes and LED already glowing despite the early hour, as comforting and appealing as the sight of him in nothing but boxers and an open black robe, a plate in one hand and a mug in another. “My apologies, I hope I didn’t wake you.”

Gavin, in any other circumstance, would have kicked up a massive fuss at being woken at – he glances at the clock – 8 AM on his day off, but somehow just the sight of Nine is enough to make him forget why he’d been cranky in the first place. Well, almost. His voice certainly sounds cranky and hoarse when he speaks.

“ _You_ didn’t, but whatever the fuck you’re burnin’ did. What the hell were you doing?”

“Breakfast,” Nine smiles, bringing over a mug of fantastic smelling coffee and a plate of… not so fantastic looking food. “Not my best work, perhaps, but I assure you this is far better than the first batch I attempted.”

Gavin feels a familiar pang of fondness in his chest, looking over the burned edges of toast and bacon and messy eggs on the plate Nine hands him. On all accounts, it isn’t too bad, not compared to some of the stuff Nine has tried to cook in the past, but Gavin still enjoys teasing him. “Babe, seriously, how the fuck can you not do toast? Or eggs? You’re supposed to be a supercomputer.”

“And cooking is not my primary function. It isn’t my fault you have your eggs in such a complicated way.”

“Sunny side up is hardly fuckin’ complicated, babe.”

“Enjoy your breakfast.”

“Cheers.” Gavin grins because, in all honesty, anything cooked by Nine is good enough to eat – because Nine made it. He settles the plate in his lap and digs in, shooing away Luci when she crawls up to sniff at it, suddenly wide awake now food has entered the room. “So, breakfast in bed, huh? What’s the occasion?” 

Nine, in the process of disrobing and returning into bed, stops to look back at him with an all too familiar eyebrow arch, and Gavin can’t tell if the look on his face is confusion or judgement. “You don’t know?”

“I _just_ woke up.”

“Point taken.” Nine hums, climbing under the sheets beside him until he, too, is covered again. “It is currently 8:02 AM on Sunday the twenty-fifth of December. Christmas Day.”

Gavin accidentally inhales the crust of his toast and proceeds to choke rather gracelessly where he sits in the bed, banging a fist against his chest to try and dislodge the piece of bread stuck in his throat. Certainly not the most attractive sight, but Nine hardly looks phased – though he does lean forwards to save his culinary masterpiece when the plate nearly falls off Gavin’s lap.

“Are you serious?” Gavin manages when he finally digests his food properly, “When the fuck did that happen?”

“This morning at midnight, I believe.” Nine smiles, like the smartass he is, and Gavin rolls his eyes and represses the urge to tell him how much of one he is as he takes his plate back. “I had thought you’d forgotten; you did not seem in a very festive mood last night.”

“Yeah, well. You could have bloody reminded me.”

“That’s what I’m doing now.”

This time, Gavin does not repress it, “Smartass.”

“Indeed.” Nine spreads his fingers through Luci’s fur lovingly as she moves to settle on his lap upon realising she won’t be getting any food from Gavin’s plate, though his gaze remains on him. “I know we agreed that we would not celebrate the holiday, however, I still wanted to attempt to do something nice for you, despite how burnt it ended up being.”

Gavin smiles. He smiles the smile he only ever fucking smiles in his dorky boyfriend’s presence, a smile that’s so fucking happy and goofy that it just feels completely out of place on Gavin’s lips – reserved only for Nine and nobody else. “It’s perfect, babe. Couldn’t ask for anythin’ better.”

Nine does avert his gaze then, fixing his eyes on Luci instead as a small smile creeps across his lips and a hint of blue flush colours his cheeks – and he looks so fucking pretty that Gavin just wants to abandon his food (which does taste good despite the burnt edges and definitely beats the dreaded food-poisoning incident of Thanksgiving), assert himself into his lap and kiss his pretty fucking face off.

Gavin couldn’t have asked for a more supportive person to be stuck around him this time of year, grumpy and miserable and hating on anything even slightly festive. Nine had listened to all of his complaints and grumblings without any judgement at all; had kept him calm when it had become too much; had understood completely when Gavin had explained why he hates the awful holiday and all the shitty memories it brings. Even more than that, Nine had willingly sacrificed any celebrations he may have had planned in the hopes that it would make Gavin more comfortable, and _still_ provided him with the best fucking breakfast ever upon waking up.

It had, and does, make him feel unexpectedly cherished – having someone so willing to set aside their own personal agendas to occupy to his own needs. Nine has always been so selfless, in that sense, but it still succeeds to flaw Gavin every single time.

So then, the big question had been, what the fuck to get for the man who does everything and beyond for you?

Gavin had wracked his brain for hours trying to think of something; literally anything that would qualify as a good enough gift to make up for all the shit Nine had done for him. And nothing, in the three weeks of searching he had done, had cropped up at all. He’d never felt so pathetic and useless in his entire life, unable to find one thing that would show Nine how much he appreciated everything he had done for him; how much Gavin appreciated him.

And then, inspiration had struck, in the very form of the feline companion currently curled up in said android’s lap.

“Hey, do me a favour?” Gavin asks, with a mouth full of crisped bacon. “Open the bedside drawer.”

Nine leans over without a moment’s hesitation, opening the drawer per Gavin’s command and pausing momentarily as he peers inside it. Gavin catches the flash of yellow at his temple as he withdraws a black box from within with a simple silver ribbon stuck on top and ‘tin can x’ scribbled across the label attached to it, because although Gavin had got the present it didn’t mean he had the motivation to fucking wrap it, and it would only have been messy anyway.

It gets turned over a few more times in Nine’s hand whilst he stares at it like it’s a fucking bomb, and after a minute he seems to compose himself enough to say, “What’s this?”

Gavin shrugs, pretending to be more focused on his breakfast, staring at his eggs hard enough to fry them again. “Dunno. Open it and find out, dumbass.”

“I thought we agreed–”

“I know. It doesn’t matter.”

“But I haven’t procured you any–”  

“Do I look like I give a shit, babe? Stop overthinking and just fuckin’ open it.”

The android’s gaze shifts over him warily, still holding the box at arm’s length, LED circling between blue and yellow as he tries to discern the situation. It takes a few more minutes of confused staring, but Nine eventually starts to open it, and it takes all of Gavin’s being to stop himself abandoning the bed and running out of the room – which is fucking stupid in itself because the gift isn’t even that good and he’s the one overthinking it and there’s nothing to fucking worry about–

Nine takes the collar out of the box with a puzzled expression, holding it carefully at either end between his index fingers and thumbs, LED now fully settled in that annoying yellow colour that’s so hard for Gavin to read. The collar is black and studded with tiny little gems, and Gavin’s never seen Nine look so confused in his life as he turns to frown at him.

“Are you expecting _me_ to wear this?” He asks, dry, and Gavin rolls his eyes and restrains the urge to punch him.

“No, dickhead, look at the fuckin’ tag.”

Nine does, with amusement playing across his features. He takes the rounded shiny tag between his fingers to observe it properly, most of the confusion in his expression easing away as he reads the name ‘ _LUCIFER_ ’ engraved into the silver, and then coming back tenfold when he turns it over and reads, ‘ _If found, please call 31324831787’_ , on the back.

“This is my model number,” Nine clicks slowly, brows pinched together as he stares harder at the tag for answers, “I don’t understand.”

Gavin forks his eggs, doing anything to keep his gaze off of him, “Well, you know, I thought… me and Luce have been livin’ here a while now and we can’t stop her from goin’ outside forever, and she’s such a fucking dozy bitch that she’s bound to get lost sooner or later.”

Nine’s eyebrows furrow further in Gavin’s peripheral vision, and he swears he’s never known anyone have such fucking control over their brow movements.

“And, y’know, she might be a pain in the ass but she’s real important to me and… the only other person I’d trust her with is, well, you… cause you’re important to me and shit.” Gavin cringes at his own words, wishing a dictionary would slap him around the face and give him the words to express what he’s trying to say. “You look after her and she fuckin’ loves the socks off you and, it ain’t fair that you still just see her as my pet cause… she’s _not_ just mine, she’s yours too.”

Gavin momentarily ceases his assault on the eggs to raise his head and see what’s going on with Nine’s face, since he doesn’t offer any speech to say the gift is understood. He finds Nine just watching him with that same furrowed brow expression, LED still flickering between yellow and blue as he processes what Gavin just said… hopefully. He probably can’t even make sense of it. But Nine has always been able to read Gavin better than anyone else and he fucking prays that, right now, he’ll be able to read him just as easily.

_I don’t have much but what I do have is yours, because I trust you and I love you._

Gavin breaks eye contact again when his nerve deserts him, already making quick work on getting out of bed and digging up excuses, “It was just a stupid idea I had, I dunno. Maybe if you weren’t so fuckin’ hard to buy for I could have got you something better, but hey, I memorised all those fuckin’ numbers in your ID so that’s gotta count for somethin–”

“Gavin.” Nine interrupts sharply, making Gavin freeze in his attempts and bite his tongue to shut himself up. He should know by now that Nine doesn’t fall prey to fabrication or pitiful excuses, and that’s exactly what they are – pitiful excuses. Gavin knows full well he’s had Nine’s ID memorised since their first fucking case together, when he’d been hunched over Peter Cartwright’s body, analysing his injuries and looking so fucking good that Gavin could do nothing but stare.

Which is all he can do now, ironically. Nine moves slowly to thread his fingers through the hand Gavin is gripping the bedsheets with, and all Gavin can do is stare, wide-eyed and more nervous than he’d like to admit, as he waits for Nine to speak or move or do literally anything.

The crease in his forehead disappears and his LED settles finally into that soft blue hue, and Nine looks at Gavin and fucking smiles as he says, “I love it.”

Gavin’s lungs deflate. He lets out a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding and tries to let up the iron grip he knows he’s gripping Nine’s hand with, “Really? Are you sure? Cause, y’know, you don’t have to just say that, I know it’s stupid and I know I coulda done better but I just thought it’d be nice to–”

Nine interrupts him once again, but this time he does so by pressing his lips firmly against Gavin’s and capturing him in a kiss, gentle fingers finding the underside of his jaw and tilting his head up to meet Nine’s mouth. It’s soft and chaste, and Gavin fucking melts into it because he can’t help it, and just like that his anxiety eases away along with all the tension that’s been pent up in his shoulders.

Nine can’t cook for shit, but he sure can kiss like a fucking god.

He pulls away just as carefully, close enough still that Gavin can make out the moles dotted across Nine’s face and the beautiful flecks of grey in his eyes. Gavin ought to consider sending a Christmas gift to whoever designed an android so goddamn gorgeous and gave it the capacity to fall in love with someone so messed up as himself.

“The present is not stupid, Gavin. I adore it.” Nine reassures, fingers sliding up across Gavin’s cheekbones now. “I merely hope I can live up to the responsibility, after all, she already has one superb owner.”

_I am honoured you would trust me with such an important duty and I will do everything in my power to cherish it, as I cherish you._

Gavin smiles. It works both ways, he supposes.

“Don’t be fuckin’ ridiculous, you’re already her favourite anyway,” Gavin states, truthfully, as Nine moves away to secure the collar around Luci’s neck – much to her delight. “You spoil her way too much.”

Nine scratches behind Luci’s ears as she proudly shows off her new accessory, like the diva she is, and Gavin sits back and happily watches them both – the two things he loves most in this world.

“Well, I can’t spoil just one of you. That would be favouritism.”

Gavin snorts, fond and completely besotted.

“I must admit… I am rather regretful that I do not have a gift to offer you. I feel as if I have… let you down.”

“What? Fuck no, don’t be– babe, don’t even think that.” Gavin insists, abandoning his plate on the side and asserting himself closer. “I’m the one who said we weren’t doin’ anything, I never would have expected you to get me anything cause, well, you do bloody enough.”

Nine’s LED spins yellow again, “But I should have predicted–”

“Don’t give me that bullshit. You had no way of knowin’.” It’s Gavin’s turn to interrupt now, sliding his own hand up Nine’s face until he’s cupping his cheek. Anxiety may constantly latch onto Gavin’s back, but fuck if he’s gonna let it affect his boyfriend. “Besides, I don’t need anythin’. I’ve got all I need right here.”

And it’s the truth. He’s got Luci, stretched out in the bed between them, showboating her new collar happily, and he’s got Nine, warm and solid beside him, loving him and keeping him grounded whenever he gets too worked up. It’s more than he could ever ask for, and it’s only just gone 8:17 AM and this is already his best Christmas in years.

Nine’s blue tinge is back across his cheeks, and Gavin doesn’t fucking blame him, the heat he can feel on his own face telling him he’s blushing just as hard, and this needs to stop before it gets anymore fucking sappy than it already is.

Nine must sense it too, because he kisses Gavin’s forehead and says, “Now, since we are not celebrating today, how about we just move the bedding to the couch and spend the day watching those awful movies you enjoy so much?”

“Hey,” Gavin barks back, quick to defend, “the Terminator franchise is not awful, you’ve just got shit film taste.”

“I have said it once and I will say it again; if the people who made T-800 had the technology to create him, why did they not have the technology to show him what Sarah Connor looked like? Rather than just allowing him to kill multiple women before finding her.”

Gavin’s already getting out of bed, preparing to storm from the room in nothing but his boxers, “Oh my god, you’re such a pain in the ass. I’m not havin’ this argument again, babe.”

“You know I’m right.”

“Get fucked.”

Despite this, they do set up the covers on the couch and Nine does start to play the first movie, even making some popcorn for Gavin to munch on throughout (which he can manage because _“You literally just microwave it, babe. I’ll seriously be worried if you mess that up.”)_

The edges are still burnt when Nine brings the bowl over, and Gavin still enjoys every mouthful.

And that’s how he spends his Christmas; curled up into Nine’s side with a blanket thrown over his legs, popcorn in his lap that he has to hold away from Luci whenever she sticks her face into the bowl, and his favourite movies playing continuously on the tv, and it’s better than anything he could have asked for.

Christmas is still the worst time of year. Gavin won’t surrender that belief. He’s still suffered far too many 25th’s of December being miserable and alone, being forgotten about by his shitty parents or being thrown around by his shitty ex – but this one, right now… it isn’t too bad.

Nine will be by his side throughout, he doesn’t need to worry about that. Ryan is still locked away somewhere Gavin will never be able to see him again. His mother will still call at dinner time and Gavin will cherish every second he has on the phone with her, and Eli will still text at some point during the day, wishing him ‘Season’s Greeting’s’ and salvaging whatever little relationship they have left – and this time, Gavin will message him back, he’ll make sure of it.

He is happy, ridiculously so, and nothing is going to change that.

And the end credits of the first movie are playing, and the bowl of popcorn is already empty, and Luci is asleep at the end of the couch and Gavin leans up and kisses his boyfriend’s cheek, securing his happiness and the very person who made it possible in the first place.

“Merry Christmas, babe.”

“Merry Christmas, Gavin.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I originally intended to upload this on Christmas Eve, and then got too drunk to type. Oops. 
> 
> Whoever you are and whatever you celebrate this time of year, I hope you had a very merry holiday! Thank you for reading, kudos and feedback are appreciated and, as always, stay safe! <3 
> 
> [a-callipygian](http://a-callipygian.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.


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